


Wear Your Love Like Colors

by mvernet



Category: The Sentinel (TV)
Genre: Auras, Coma, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, M/M, Mentions of Cancer, Prompt Collapse, Sentinel Thursday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 14:58:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19320502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mvernet/pseuds/mvernet
Summary: After Blair's near-death in the fountain, he begins to develop a strange power.





	Wear Your Love Like Colors

Blair couldn’t help but smile as Harry Conkle, recovering in a hospital bed, played with his precious grandson. Blair was transfixed by the scene, placing himself in little Tyler’s place. He wondered if his paternal grandfather existed somewhere. Would he be a brilliant senior academic on a lecture circuit, or a cowering, beaten con wasting away in a prison cell doing twenty years? Most likely all that would be left would be ashes, scattered to the four winds by his phantom son’s hand. Blair made a silent prayer that Harry would live long enough to make some lasting memories for his grandson to treasure.

 

Jim and Blair said their goodbyes, Blair touched Harry briefly to wish him well as he left. The two partners entered the tiled hallway of the hospital. Blair stopped and reached out a hand to grab onto Jim’s jacket. Blair felt Jim’s large hand ghost around his waist. “Chief? You okay? You look a little pale. You dizzy, buddy? I knew I should have taken you to the hospital after you were gassed. Chief?”

 

Blair’s world had gone dark blue. Emotions not his own had wrapped around his mind twisting and turning the very heart in his body. Deep regret and a bittersweet longing took his breath away. But there was a black presence he had never encountered before. A lurking monster with sharp fangs. His mind labelled it, cancer. 

 

Since his real-death experience at the fountain, Blair had moments where the world tinted out and emotions, terrifying in their intensity filled his brain. The first time was during the debacle with Brad Ventriss. He accidentally touched his disgruntled student’s hand and the world turned red. He was staggered by the hate and depravity he felt. Exhausted as if he had run a 5k uphill, he managed to wade through the swirling red fog surrounding him and drag himself to his office before he collapsed, completely out of it for hours. He never told Jim about it. 

 

Ever the scientist, he began to do experiments on himself. He casually touched his friends and co-workers. Blair found he had a measure of control over these friendly encounters, they didn’t overwhelm him. Each person was a unique color. Blair found out that he needed to use his hands with skin to skin contact, but just a brush would do. He could see and feel their auras warm and bright. He picked up hope and compassion tempered with hints of bitter heartache and shrouded horrors from the MC crew, making Blair love them more than he already did. Most people were a swirl of subtle hues blended from their experiences of life. Vince Deal’s remarkable color was like the roses he wore. Rich and deep and colored like a fine old wine. Blair felt privileged to know them in this intimate way, and worried that he was somehow invading their privacy on a spiritual level. He vowed to keep his findings to himself. He wouldn’t even tell Jim.

 

Jim. Jim who was a bright rainbow, his colors were strong and true and well defined. They wrapped around Blair’s heart like a noble warrior’s banner. Making him feel like he was safe, protected and loved. He knew now without a word and without a doubt that Jim loved him.

 

But he was beginning to learn that strong negative emotion overloaded his vision in one strong color that brought him to his knees. The only thing worse was when he touched a dead body. The gray colorless void that filled his mind sucked the very soul out of him. He had entered the morgue under some pretense and lightly touched the deceased person Dan Wolf was performing an autopsy on. He collapsed immediately and woke up shaking with cold and paler than pale on Dan’s couch. He pleaded with the ME not to tell Jim as promised to never skip breakfast again. Dan reluctantly agreed. It had taken Blair almost a week to feel warm again.

 

“Chief! You’re scaring me. What’s wrong? Blair?”

 

Blair watched Jim’s mouth move as if in slow-motion. The black pulsing shapes that were in Harry Conkle’s body were now wrapped around Blair’s spine pulling the strength from his body. He tried to touch some part of Jim that wasn’t covered with cloth but his limbs were useless and fell to his side. He cried out for Jim to help him as the blackness clouded over his sight and he collapsed into Jim’s arms.

 

~~~**~~~

 

Blair had been in a coma for four long days. The doctors could find nothing wrong with him. Jim finally called a halt to the myriad of tests being performed on Blair’s unresponsive body. On the night of the fourth day, Jim had a dream where Blair came to him and told him, not to worry. That he was in a healing trance and would awaken soon. He told Jim he would explain the spiritual mumbo jumbo when he was strong enough to come back to him. The Guide told the Sentinel to stand guard. He told Jim he loved him. Jim told Blair he loved him too and would guard his body with his own. When Jim woke, Blair had a sweet smile on his face. Jim leaned in and kissed that smile. 

 

Five days after his collapse Blair woke up.

 

Blair blinked several times and looked around the pastel green hospital room. He felt a hand in his and recognised the rainbow wound ‘round his heart. “Jim?”

 

Jim leaned in so Blair didn’t have to move his head to see him. Jim brought Blair’s hand and cradled it to his own chest. “Oh, Chief. It’s so good to see you awake, babe. You went on quite a trip.”

 

“Tell me about it, man. That was truly far out.”

 

Jim chuckled a little and reached for a glass of water he had ready for Blair’s anticipated awakening. He helped Blair with the straw.

 

“You feeling okay?”

 

Blair closed his eyes for a moment to take stock. He was still tired and his arms felt weak, but he had no pain and his mind was clear. “I’m good, Jim. Really. I’m sorry I worried you.”

 

Jim nodded and found Blair’s hand again. “Chief I was never so scared in my life. I sensed that something was going on with you, but I couldn’t find anything physically, except… except your scent was… not you. You smell like wildflower honey and crushed herbs and that peculiar… Blairscent.”

 

“Wow! You got it bad, Jim.”

 

“Oh, shut it, Chief. I’m serious. You had a another smell covering yours. It was… bad. I hated it. But it slowly faded, and then I had the dream.”

 

“You got my message. I’m so glad.”

 

“Babe, you up to telling me what’s going on with you?”

 

Blair began at the fountain and left nothing out. Jim felt like his emotions were on a roller coaster ride. One of those old rickety wooden ones with lots of heart stopping bumps. Anger at Blair for keeping things from him. Concern for his Guide’s awakening powers. Fear that Blair would collapse someday and never wake up. And finally love, a love so fierce he wanted to throw Blair over his shoulder take him to a cave and ravage him.

 

When Blair was finished speaking, he turned a worried face to his Sentinel. “Jim. I… I should have told you what was happening. I was stupid. You know I trust you…” Jim lifted a hand to stop him. “I get it Blair. It’s the scientist in you. You don’t want to commit to a theory till all data is in.”

 

“You got me pegged, square peg that I am.”

 

“Chief. There is some data you don’t have and it scares the shit out of me.”

 

“Jim? What?”

 

“Harry Conkle was declared cancer free three days ago.” Blair sat up just to fall down again. Jim placed a hand on his chest to settle him. “Easy, Chief.”

 

“Jim? Jim do you think I… cured him?”

 

“I do Chief. I do.”

 

Blair’s expressive features brightened like sunshine after a Cascade three day rainstorm. “Jim! I can cure cancer! Why, I bet this hospital is full of cancer patients… Blair immediately closed his eyes and sent out his new found empathy to the patients on the other floors. It didn’t take long for the suffering surrounding him to eat away at his own emotional shields. He screamed in blind agony while images of sick men, women and children vied for his attention. He frantically grabbed the air for Jim’s hand as a ferocious swirling tornado of a thousand colors started to rip his spiritual body to shreds.

 

“No, Guide. Stop!” Jim held on to both Blair’s hands as he gave a powerful command that resonated all the way down to Blair’s DNA.

Blair seemed to sink into the bed, panting and writhing on the white sheets.

 

“Guide! Return to your Sentinel!”

 

Blair came back to himself and cautiously opened his eyes. He flung himself into Jim’s arms and hung on tight as he sobbed for the suffering people around him.

 

Jim held on and spoke softly to him, rocking and soothing his Guide, his Blair. He finally helped Blair settle back on his pillows and covered him with blankets to ease his trembling. 

 

“Blair listen to me closely. We can’t let anyone know you have this power to heal. I think it was meant for a Guide to heal his Sentinel and maybe a few members of his tribe. Because a Sentinel would never allow it to go too far and hurt his Guide. Blair if anyone found out about this your very life would be in danger. No wonder Guides are such a well kept secret. I know I would rather die than allow you to be exploited for your healing powers.”

 

Blair tried to control his ragged breathing. “But Jim. I could help people. Cure them.”

 

“No. no you can’t. Not without endangering your life. I understand you want to heal people, and I promise you, we’ll find a way to do that. But not to the point where you slip away.”

 

Blair blinked his wide blue eyes like a child listening to a scary story. “I… I need your help figuring it out, Jim. I… I can’t think straight.”

 

Jim leaned in and stroked Blair’s hair slowly, wrapping his long curls around his fingers. “Chief, I’ll protect you. That's my primary job. I see that now. You must know now that your research, your diss can never be published. It would be too dangerous to draw attention to yourself.”

 

Blair nodded sadly. “I know. This changes everything and explains a lot too. It’s the Guide who is in danger of exploitation, not the Sentinel. I’d hate to destroy it. I always thought it could somehow help others like you. I was so stupid”

 

”Not stupid, just… idealistic. I like that about you. We don’t need to make a decision about destroying it today. Maybe we can edit out the Guide’s role and make it safe for you. You need to rest.” Jim kicked off his shoes and placed them neatly under the bed. He crawled into the bed behind Blair and wrapped his arms around him. “I love you, Chief.”

 

Blair took Jim’s hand in his. “I love you, man. We’ll discuss that little development later too.”

 

“Rest, Blair.”

 

“Jim. Someone in a white coat is going to be coming to check on me any minute now.”

 

Jim pulled Blair closer. “Let them get their own Guide. You’re mine.”


End file.
